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Civilian Conservation Corps at Camp SP-12, Fort Necessity, Farmington, PA

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Civilian Conservation Corps at Camp SP-12, Fort Necessity, Farmington, PA TECHNICALINFORMATIONCENTE~ DENVERSERVICECENTER NATIONALPARKSERVICE - * FORT NECESSITY CIVILIAN CONSERVATIONCORPS CAMP SP-12 1935-1937 bY Larry N. Sypolt ~'November 15, 1988 Morgantown, WV I Preface This paper is meant to be an administrative history of the Civilian Conservation Corps at Camp SP-12, Fort Necessity, Farmington, PA. The CCC camp at Fort Necessity existed for only two and one-half years, from June 1935, through December 1937. This oral history project was conducted with people who served the CCC program at Fort Necessity during those years. I have gotten interviews from a camp advisor, camp military officer, local experienced man, work leader and enrollees, the purpose of which was to yet an idea of what this experience meant to people at all levels. The first section opens with a brief overview of the CCC program in general. No attempt was made here to tell its whole story, as many books have already been written on the subject. This overview is followed by the administrative history at Fort Necessity, with papers following that are of particular interest to the camp. The second section contains the edited transcripts of the interviews. It is followed by some written interviews sent by people some distance away or who were not available for an oral interview. A list of questions is contained with their answers. I would also like to take this time to thank all those who helped me with this~,"project. A special thanks to Bill Fink and his staff at -Fort Necessity National Battlefield for all of their ,,- help and cooperation. Last, but not least, a special thanks to my typist. 2., , and over ten thousand unemployed people were put to work in the last year of Roosevelt's Governorship.' The country was ready for a Qrogram such as this. In March 1933, it was estimated that over thirteen million Americans were unemployed. Three years of depression had dealt a blow to the economy, and almost everyone was affected. Over two million people were drifting around the land. Many left their homes and moved in with relatives to cut costs. Jobs were non-existent. Many just stayed home, tired from looking for work. Many were young. These young had never been able to get a start in life. Many had left home to find any kind of work and ended up in jail, municipal shelters, soup lines and worse. 2 A perfect work force was wasting away. Eight months earlier, at the Democratic Convention in Chicago, Roosevelt had pointed out that abandoned farms and cutover forests were "growing up in worthless brush." He declared that every European nation had a definite land policy. "We have none," he went on. "Having none, we face a future of soil erosion and timber famine." 3 In his acceptance speech, Roosevelt said, "Let us use common sense and business sense, and, just as one example, we know that a very hopeful and immediate means of relief, both for the unemployed and for agriculture, will come from a.,wide; plan of the converting of many millions of acres of marginal and unused land into timber land through _' refore&ation."4 Forests of 800,000,000 acres once covered the iinited States. This number was now down to 100,000,000 acres. Much of the'nation's timber had been squandered. This reduction had compounded the problem of soil erosion. Water and wind carried away six hillion tons of American soil each year. Overseas, the governments of Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Germany had established conservation camps for the unemployed. Many states in the United States had started forestry camps on a limited basis. Roosevelt continued in his acceptance speech, "Employment can be given to a million men. This is the kind of work that is self-sustaining.....Yes, I have a very definite program for providing employment by that means. (15 Frankin D. Roosevelt took the oath of office as the 32nd President on March 4, 1933. On March 9, 1933, he called a meeting with the Secretaries of Agriculture, Interior and War, the Director of the Budget, the Judge Advocate General of the Army and the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior to discuss the conservation program outline. They formulated a hastily prepared bill which was introduced into Congxess on March 13, 1933. This bill was immediately withdrawn because modifications were needed. 6 On March 15, 1933, the Secretaries of War, Agriculture, Interior and Labpr .,met to work out the precise details of the conservation,program. Three recommendations came out of this .^. : ~,.' meeting: First; direct relief grants would be given to the states; second, a large public works program would be started; and, third, a carefully designed soil erosion and forestry program would be instituted. This proposal was resubmitted to Congress on March 21, 1933. It also stated that a relief measure would provide clothing, daily sustenance, medical attention, hospitalization and a cash allowance for the unemployed who would be hired for work in fire prevention, flood control, soil erosion and other conservation related duties. 7 President Roosevelt signed the bill on March 31, 1933, when it finally passed both houses of Congress. He also asked that the program begin in two weeks. The four departments would administer the program jointly and each would have specific duties; The Department of Labor would initiate a nationwide program to recruit workers. The Army was to con- dition and transport workers to camp and administrate and supervise the camps and the Park Service and Forest Service were to assign work projects. The official agency would be known as the Emergency Conservation Works (ECW). Unofficially called the Civilian Conservation Corps, the name was officially changed to this in 1937.* Robert Fechner was chosen Director of the ECW in 1933. Fechner was a respected labor leader. He served on the qovern- 'I'~ 3~ ! j inq board of the International Association of Machinists and was -a +ce president of the American Federation of Labor. He met Roosevelt during World War I when he was an advisor on 5 labor policy. He worked hard for Roosevelt's election in 1932. Opposition from organized labor to the relief measures of 1933 made his appointment a wise one. 9 The act further set out to say that those employed would be so with no discrimination in regard to race, color or creed and that they would be furnished shelter, sustenance, clothing, medical attention, cash allowance and transportation. Those enrolled would also have to be citizens of the United States. The Department of Labor was designated to select the men to be enrolled. The original enrollment was fixed at 250,000 men between the ages of 18 and 25. These enrollees were to be physically fit, unemployed, unmarried, having dependents and desire a part of their cash allowance be sent to these dependents. This afforded employment to those in greatest need. Each state was assigned a quota based upon its population in proportion to the total population. A state director of selection was chosen in each state. Two problems developed in the selection of enrollees. One, the importation of large groups of men into certain states deprived local men of the opportunity to pursue their usual vocations; and, two, the problem of replacement of losses if the number of 250,000 men was to be maintained. Both problems were solved by the authorization to increase the number of enrollees to 274,375men for the first enrollment period. This would provide..for an average of 250,000 for enrollment and extend opportunities to 35,250 citizens who were experienced, P - 6 Ii 1: unemployed, and physically fit woodsmen, residing in the vicinity of the work projects. The Department of War enrolled all men selected except some Indians and non-Indians living on reservations. Men had to be found physically acceptable and willing to take the "Oath of Enrollment." Men selected by state directors were required to present themselves to established Army recruiting stations nearest to the point of selection. In some cases, men selected would report directly to work sites or conditioning camps. The United States is geographically broken down into nine corps areas for administering the Army. The CCC follows these same areas because of its military administration. Army posts in these corps areas are used as conditioning camps for the enrollees on their way to camp. The conditioning of men consisted of immunization against disease, initiation of records, providing clothing and equipment, organizing men into companies of 200 men each, and building up their bodies for the outdoor life to follow. This period averaged two to three weeks. The Department of War also had the general responsibility of administering all work camps. The Army provided shelter, clothing, food, medical care, compensation, recreation, educational activities, religious activities, equipment and ; a disciplinary code. The Army was selected because it had -. ,,' the-orgxanizational means and personnel to carry out these responsibilities. On July 1, 1933, the War Department reported that the mobilization had'been completed. Over 1315 camps had been established. These camps were staffed by 3641 regular and 1774 reserve officers of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Eventually, all regular officerswere to be replaced by reserve officers. When it reached its peak strength of 506,000 enrollees in 1935, the CCC was commanded by 9300 reserve officers." No relationship to military service was connected to the CCC. There were to be no drills or military maneuvers. The Army was chosen for its ability to organize and supervise men. Army style, such as companies and squad leaders, has proved effective in supervising large contingents of man.
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